WHEN THE BAD NEWS AINT SO BAD

Last season, Toronto's ace inked a one-year deal worth $3.825 million. This year, as the defending Cy Young award-winner, he has a bit more bargaining power. Toronto offered him $6.5 million, while Halladay's camp asked for $9 million.

Folks, $9M for Halladay is a bargain. ($6.5M is almost an insult.) If the Jays can lock up Halladay for 3 yrs, $27M then by all things holy do it!

UPDATE: I've been informed that Halladay, unlike Wood, is two years away from free agency. (Both made their debuts in '98, but Halladay threw only 14 innings as a call-up while Wood made 26 starts and tossed 166.7 innings. In other words, Wood has five full years of MLB service, compared to only four for Roy.) So, it makes a little more sense why Jays management is being so "stingy". (I guess J.P. is a pretty smart guy after all.)